Top 10 Fantasy Prospects

There were numerous surprises and some awful disappointments this year in fantasy baseball. While some greatly exceeded their expectations, other fell flat far behind. Using a normal ESPN point scale, I will recap some of the most controversial players and steals from the 2013 season. Players like Matt Kemp, Justin Verlander, and Ryan Braun cost owners high draft picks and returned little value compared to a player that could be picked up much later. On the other hand, Chris Davis, Matt Carpenter, and Josh Donaldson proved to be much better than their draft stock at the beginning of the season. Player in the disappointment category are not there because of injuries but rather poor play with, if applicable, injuries.

Surprises

Paul Goldschmidt (P:371, A:519) Goldschmidt looks to power the Diamondbacks for years to come with elite power and average.

Chris Davis (P:295, A:488) Bursting out of the gate with 31 home runs by the end of june left fantasy owners shocked by his power.

Matt Carpenter (P:300, A:482) Carpenter's position eligibility and overall hitting skills made him a top ten batter in most leagues.

Josh Donaldson (P:186, A:442) Donaldson had a breakout season with the Athletics after hitting .305 with 24 home runs.

Coco Crisp (P:296, A:404) Crisp enjoyed a season in which he was a member of the 20/20 club and had 93 runs.

Jean Segura (P:225, A:357) While a great season overall for Segura, it remains to be seen if he is truly the first half (.325/.363/.487) or the second half (.241/.268/.315) version of himself.

Marlon Byrd (P:165, A:324) A powerful source of outfield help that went to the Pirates for their playoff push.

Nate McLouth (P:186, A:321) McLouth's resurgence with the Orioles made him a valuable stolen base and runs commodity.

Brian Dozier (P:164, A:314) Dozier's average is made up for with power and speed; be wary of his splits though - he hit .328 against lefties and .219 against righties.

Daniel Nava (P:89, A:305) Nava won his outfield spot early in the year but gradually regresses as time wore on.

Eric Young Jr. (P:148, A:275) Young managed to win a starting outfield role for the Mets at some point in the season and provided valuable stolen bases. Don't expect him to repeat this though.

Yasiel Puig (P:65, A:262) The rookie phenomenon looked great coming off the start in early May and certainly kickstarted the Dodgers into action but looked lost at the plate later in the year.

J.B. Shuck (P:0, A:240) Shuck went largely unnoticed in the Angels outfield because too many people were focusing on Hamilton's bad season rather than Shuck's good one.

Max Scherzer (P:441, A:627) Scherzer blew everyone out of the water from the start with his launch to 20 wins and immense number of strikeouts.

Hisashi Iwakuma (P:286, A:533) His small sample size in 2012 led some to question his skill. They deeply regretted it upon his great 2013 season.

Jose Fernandez (P:0, A:482) An incredible rookie season may not have ever happened if he started the season the way most had predicted - in single A.

Patrick Corbin (P:187, A:432) Corbin, the Arizona fifth starter, proved to be the best starter on the team. Expect him to excel in the future.

Chris Tillman (P:250, A:421) Tillman finally lived up to his potential in 2013 with his best season to date and should be locked in the O's rotation for another few years.

Bartolo Colon (P:226, A:414) We doubted Colon and he came back and proved us dead wrong. Colon may have had one of his best seasons yet after being suspended for 50 games for PED use.

Ervin Santana (P:274, A:396) The Royals were unlucky when they signed Santana to only a one-year deal because he pitched better than anyone could have expected.

Travis Wood (P:153, A:362) Wood surprised everyone when he managed to stay to an ERA of 3.11 over the season.

Jorge De La Rosa (P:134, A:303) After only achieving -13 points in 2012, De La Rosa pitched to a 3.49 ERA - an even harder feat considering half of his starts were in Coors Field.

Disappointments

Albert Pujols (P:550, A:270) Pujols not only greatly disappointed owners with an injury-shortened season but also did not provide much when he actually was healthy.

Ryan Braun (P:543, A:155) Braun frustrated owners immensely when he was suspended amidst the PED scandal but he also barely produced when he was active. Most owners wasted the second overall pick to get a player that ended up with less points than Lucas Duda.

Matt Kemp (P:433, A:127) Similarly to Braun and Pujols, Kemp spent most of the season on the DL and when rarely healthy, he rarely produced fantasy-worthy results.

Aramis Ramirez (P:428, A:213) Injuries vastly degraded his season after he had produced 476 points in 2012.

Paul Konerko (P:422, A:232) Konerko had such consistency in his career but age finally caught up to the veteran first baseman.

Jason Heyward (P:418, A:245) Heyward's slow start to the season was unrecoverable for most and eventually just could not catch up to his projections.

Starlin Castro (P:406, A:244) Castro looked inexperienced at the plate this year and suffered because of it. Maybe a year-long slump for the once great prospect.

Josh Willingham (P:388, A:172) A year after hitting 35 home runs and 110 RBI, Willingham hits 14 home runs with 48 RBI.

Ike Davis (P:386, A:136) Davis did not even spend the entire season in the major leagues because his batting average was so low.

Brett Lawrie (P:361, A:217) Lawrie was just not a good enough player after his return from the DL.

The Yankees Quartet: Youkillis (P:357, A:33), Teixeria (P:346, A:24), Jeter (P:342, A:29), Granderson (P:336, A:99) Not one of these four players achieved triple-digit scoring because they spent almost the entire season on the DL.

Angel Pagan (P:355, A:186) Pagan's season was marred by sporadic injuries but was exacerbated by poor play in between.

B.J. Upton (P:335, A:74) A catastrophe of a player in 2013 questions his MLB future after such promising seasons in Tampa Bay.

C.C. Sabathia (P:498, A:300) Age has possibly caught up to the star of the past and weakened his pitching

Matt Cain (P:491, A:324) What may not seem like a huge disappointment is because of his decent second half.

R.A. Dickey (P:475, A:368) Dickey also almost redeemed himself with his strong second half.

Yovani Gallardo (P:422, A:282) Gallardo lost control of his normally extremely consistently good self and fell to an average level of play.

Dan Haren (P:411, A:259) Haren fooled the Nat's front office when most promised he would return to his old form again.

Josh Johnson (P:407, A:50) Johnson's positive outlook in spring training may have gotten to him as he pitched to a 6.20 ERA while missing much of the season on the DL.

Ian Kennedy (P:399, A:241) Kennedy was expected to lead the Arizona rotation; unfortunately for him, the fifth starter proved to be the best pitcher on the team.

Edwin Jackson (P:348, A:161) Similarly to Dan Haren, Jackson must have fooled everyone upon promising he would return to his previous form. Unlike Haren, the Cubs are stuck with him for two more years.

Ryan Vogelsong (P:344, A:74) Vogelsong was kicked out of the rotation at a point in the season and may have seen his last game in the MLB.

Brett Anderson (P:339, A:48) Anderson's injuries and poor play put him in the bullpen for the end of the season.

Josh Beckett (P:304, A:31) Beckett last pitched May 13th and ended the season with a 5.19 ERA.

Brandon McCarthy (P:285, A:133) Projected as a bounce-back candidate, McCarthy's concussion symptoms may have kept with him in 2013. Fortunately, he is still very funny.

*P stands for projected and A stands for ActualFor more information on the biggest fantasy surprises and disappointments, see:http://www.espn.go.com/video/clip?id=9791770http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=9829824

Image citations in order of page:http://mlb.si.com/2013/06/19/chris-davis-miguel-cabrera-orioles-tigers/